Hypnosis #10: Reunion
by Ctarsis
Summary: Sometimes losing your memory can be deadly to your freedom...


  
Hypnosis#10:NoMatterHowFar  
  
  
  
  
  
**

* * *

Chapter One – Cat

* * *

**

I tossed my shoulder-length brown hair. "I'm fine, Mom," I said stubbornly. "Just because I'm not completely –"

"Your personality's changed," she insisted. "Katharine, I don't know what we're going to do with you! You used to get along fine with Marcia –"

"Marcia is a stuck-up airhead!"

"– and hang out with the other girls all the time –"

"The ones who wear Nike shoes and won't associate with you if you don't?!"

"– and fit in with the cliques at school –"

"That's what you want?!"

She flushed. "Well..."

My mom is a socialite. Incredibly nice, yes, but she's not happy unless she's in a group. She doesn't really understand my enjoyment of being alone at all. She claims that my personality has changed since the accident everyone keeps talking about – and I guess I remember it, too, but vaguely.

Like my memories belong to someone else. Like they're not mine. Like...

Yes. I'm crazy. At least that's what my friends tell me.

Of course, they're not really my friends anymore. Since the accident, we don't really associate. Skin-deep popularity friendship.

I have this vague memory of being a popular, fashion-conscious mall-crawler. But it seems so far away. Like that was never me.

Sometimes, I even think that perhaps it wasn't.

**

* * *

Chapter Two – Phillip

* * *

**

"Hey, Phillip," a voice said from behind me.

I turned around. "Oh, hi, Kilan," I said, pausing in the hallway.

"Sharing meeting tonight," he said. I groaned silently. Kilan is utterly obsessed with the Sharing. "Are you coming?"

"I don't attend your little club," I said a little more harshly than I meant to.

"You don't know what you're missing," he said earnestly.

I sighed. "Once," I warned. "Only once."

"Great!" he said enthusiastically. Then he looked ahead and spotted someone. "Hey, there's Tom. Gotta run. He has some info on the meeting and since I'm helping him plan it –" He smiled apologetically. "See you later."

"Wow, there's someone on the planet who knows more about it than you do?" I muttered under my breath as soon as he was gone.

But maybe it would be okay. I snorted quietly as I shut my locker. Maybe not. In fact, maybe I'd end up as a raving lunatic who ran around inviting everyone he knew to the Sharing.

_I'd fit right in,_ I thought as I turned back to my classroom. Half the teenagers I know are in the Sharing. And most of them are – well – raving lunatics who run around inviting everyone they know to it.

Sad.

But other than their little Sharing obsessions, they do seem pretty normal. Annoying, but normal.

Take Tom and Kilan, for instance.

Both of them Sharing freaks.

And both of them...well...something in the eyes, sometimes. Little fits like seizures that hardly anyone notices. But they are there.

I shrugged and tossed my books down onto my desk. How bad could one meeting be?

* * *

I had to admit that it really wasn't that bad after all. Until the last part of it, when the whole meeting trooped inside.

"Hey, Phillip, something I want to show you," Kilan said suddenly, just as they began to leave. "This membership stuff –"

I hesitated. I didn't want to join the Sharing. Maybe I was still paranoid about turning into a Sharing freak. But it wouldn't hurt.

Right.

"Sure," I said finally.

We headed into the back room. I noticed something – a sound –

I strained to hear it.

It sounded almost like a scream.

"Here it is," Kilan muttered. He reached for some papers – and hit a small panel on the wall.

"Hey, what's –"

SWOOSH!

The wall slid open!

"What are those things?!" I demanded.

The "things" – lizards with blades – didn't seem bothered by my comment as they stepped out of the opening. Behind them, I could see a stairway.

Kilan turned to the lead lizard. "Take him."

I leaped backwards as the huge reptile began to advance. "What the –" I started to say.

Suddenly I paused. Now that the door was open, I could tell that the sound was definitely screams.

"No, NOOOOOO!" a voice cried. "Help us! Anyone!"

"Stop it! Stop it, you have no –"

The desperation in the voices of the humans was evident. So was the fear.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these things were definitely connected with the screams.

"You can be a part of something that is so much more," Kilan said in the most definitely clichéd line of all Sharing freaks I'd known. I rolled my eyes, even in the obvious severity of the situation. I'd heard that at least a hundred times – between Tom, Kilan, his girlfriend Cairo, and about twenty others.

Now, however, it seemed as though I would not have a choice.

The alien – I was sure that it was an alien – grabbed me by the arms. I struggled for an instant. Its grip held.

"Don't fight it, Phillip," Kilan said flatly. "You can't."

"You can always fight," I returned.

He smiled. Not a nice smile. "Can you really? I challenge you to escape."

"You may not be able to succeed. But you can always fight."

Kilan snorted. "Take care of him," he snapped at the creatures.

One grunted in response as it yanked me down the stairway.

The damp stairway began to open up into a larger cavern as we reached the bottom. And now I could see the humans who had been screaming.

There were cages. Rows of cages. And inside, packed like discarded tools – I would soon learn understand that that description was most certainly accurate – were humans.

The lizard shoved me into a long line. In the line were humans, each guarded by one or more of the same kind of reptile. Some screamed. Some fought. Some looked around casually, undisturbed – that I could not understand. And some pleaded for mercy. I wondered what they hoped to accomplish.

I had grasped the seriousness of the situation. Whatever was happening, it was final.

The man directly in front of me looked at me pityingly: obviously, he knew something I did not.

As I watched, a teen-aged girl was drawn toward the end. She was struggling for all she was worth, and every other word out of her mouth was an expletive of some sort.

I saw her head go under the sludge.

I saw it come back up.

I saw the slug.

The gray slug wriggling into her right ear.

I saw it go all the way in. At which point the girl stopped struggling. Also at which point I realized I was in very big, very real danger.

The one ahead of me was shoved down. When they pulled him back up, his face was void of emotion.

I was next.

"NOOO!"

Despite my prior determination, I was quickly losing all pretenses at being calm.

Suddenly I could no longer breathe. The sludge pressed all around my head. I could not think of anything except my need for air. And the pain! Something was forcing its way in, numbing the pain even as it created it, but replacing it with the greater fear.

I had seen this creature inside the girl's ear. I knew what it was.

"Noooo!" I screamed as they yanked my head up. Or, at least, I wanted to.

[Hello, human.]

[What are you doing?!] I roared.

I could not make sense of my emotions. Fear. Anger. Despair. I knew that this would not be anything I could quickly escape from.

[Taking a host. Unfortunately, it is an insignificant human, but I'll soon receive a Hork-Bajir body once I'm taken off this assignment.]

My brain comprehended that "Hork-Bajir" was the word for the strange lizards. But that was not the important thing at the moment.

[Why are you in my head?] I said in what I hoped was a calm voice. I tried to focus. I wanted to focus. But the panic was so strong!

[Don't try to hide your terror from me, Phillip. You can conceal nothing from me. I am Chazil 324, a Yeerk.]

[A Yeerk?] I said blankly. From somewhere within my mind, I felt memories -- memories I could not see –

I'd heard that word before...hadn't I?

[A Yeerk. Would you like to know of my race?] I could feel the sick anticipation inside him. [Then I will tell you. We are a parasitic race. We take hosts from throughout the galaxy. And...oh, I see you begin to suspect what it is I've done to you.] He laughed sadistically. [You are quite correct. Your body is mine. Your limbs are mine. Your eyes, mine.] He dropped his "voice". Low. Insinuating. [Your thoughts as well. You have no secrets. No control. No escape. None. And when I receive a more important host, you'll simply be given to another.] He laughed yet again. [Now and forever more, you are a Yeerk slave.]

**

* * *

Chapter Three – Rachel

* * *

**

I looked around the barn, waiting impatiently for Erek to show up.

The story of our Animorph lives.

The others were here, all four of them. Jake, the leader and my cousin; Tobias, the boy trapped in hawk morph – or, as I often wonder, is it the hawk trapped with a human mind? – who also happens to be one of the people I care most about; Cassie, the resident animal-lover, nature-lover, humanity-lover, and also the best morpher; and of course Marco, the skeptical, humorous, sarcastic, short kid.

Tom was gone. At a Sharing meeting. But Jake wanted to be there when he got back, just to avoid suspicion. So we all needed Erek to hurry.

In the meantime, Marco and Jake were, once again, arguing about super-heroes. Their all-time favorites to argue about were Spiderman vs. Batman, but that wasn't their particular argument today.

See, Cassie and I had suggested that they pick a more original topic. They'd stared at us like we had two heads – or maybe five heads – and then Marco had asked what we meant.

I'd replied, "Well, maybe Superman vs. Wolverine," in as sarcastic a tone as I could manage.

Marco shrugged. "Superman," he said. "Easy."

Jake snorted. "Riiiight," he drawled. "How on Earth can any sane person possibly believe –"

So now we were listening to how Wolverine could impale Superman, but Superman would just fly away, and Cassie and I were groaning quietly and Tobias was making comments about how if we couldn't find anything more interesting to talk about, well, he had mice to catch and thermals to ride.

Finally, Erek arrived.

"Took you long enough," I snapped immediately. Listening to Wolverine and Superman's super-powers grates your nerves after a while.

He ignored me, clearing his throat. "Ahem."

"And of course Wolverine could – oh. Hi," Jake said.

"I have news."

"That's what we'd assumed, being as you called the meeting," Marco pointed out.

"The Yeerks are...formulating a new plan."

"Like I said –" Marco began.

"What is it, Erek?" Cassie interrupted.

"They know that they have spies," he said flatly. "He knows that something – or someone – has infiltrated them. And they know that, whatever it is, they're not controlling them. The Visser suspects that some hosts have powers which keep them from being controlled."

Kind of true, in a way.

Maybe I should back up. Erek is one of the Chee. The Chee are a race of androids created by some long-dead Pemalites who fight, in their own way, for Earth. And while Erek has accepted infestation, the Yeerk can't control him.

"So?" I demanded. "What are they going to do about it?"

"They're trying to accelerate, or boost, a Yeerk's power," he replied. "Almost a new race of Yeerks. Ones designed to handle resistance."

"Do you think they'll be able to do it?" Jake asked.

"We don't know."

"What?!" Marco yelled. "Some almighty Pemalites couldn't manage to create androids superior enough to resist the Yeerks in the Accelerated Controller's class?!"

Erek shot him a death look. "We don't _know,_" he reminded him. "It may be that nothing will happen at all." He hesitated. "And it's true that another Yeerk could not infest the ones that have already accepted infestation. However, these Yeerks will be threats. Huge threats. The Yeerks fight in other places of the galaxy. For instance, there are the Shazi."

"Shazi?" I asked.

"Shazi," he confirmed. "A race of almost catlike people. Right now, they're fighting another war, but the Yeerks want them as hosts – and yet they can resist them." He hesitated again. "The Shazi seem to be vaguely related to another species we don't know of. A species called Xaralites. But the Xaralites are defeated." He shook his head. "We don't know anything more about them. But Visser Three may undertake this Shazi project personally."

"Leave Earth's destruction for someone else?" Cassie interrogated.

"It's possible."

"Oh, man," Marco groaned. "So this means..."

[Where is the testing taking place?] Tobias asked.

"Three guesses," I muttered.

"The Yeerk pool," Marco and Erek said in the same voice. Marco turned to me. "I got it right. What do I win?"

I smiled fakely. "The chance to take an all-expenses-paid trip down to the vacation resort of your choice."

"And we all know where that's going to be," Marco said with equally fake enthusiasm.

Jake sighed. "Great. Just great. Deadlines."

"Testing starts soon," Erek said. "We don't know how soon. And Jake, there is another problem. If even one Chee is captured and is successfully infested, your secret is out."

He nodded grimly. "We know."

However, that hadn't even occurred to me. And now it was definitely occurring to me.

In big, bright colors.

One Chee.

One Chee, one single android, and we were all doomed.

I laughed slightly, getting the thrill of anticipation that I always do. "So," I said. "What are we waiting for?"

Marco sent me a disapproving look. "Plans are nice things, Rachel," he said patiently. "Plans are good things to have."

I rolled my eyes but was forced to see his logic.

A pity.

"A week from now," Jake said firmly.

"Tonight," I said just as firmly.

"No way," Marco said immediately.

"We don't need a week!" I protested. "It just gives them more time!"

"Six days," Marco said. He smiled. "Compromise. And we really don't need a week."

"Fine," Jake said finally. "Rachel's right. It just gives them more time."

"Yeah, like six days is a whole lot better," I muttered.

**

* * *

Chapter Four – Phillip

* * *

**

[You have no right to do this!] I yelled.

[I really don't care about your definition of what I have a right to do. I _can_ do this, and I profit by doing this, therefore I _will_ do this.]

The day had been a wild nightmare. He played his part – _my_ part – so well. Too well. But he had access to everything about me. He could mimic everything I would have said or done.

Everything!

And tomorrow I'd be back at that cursed pool as he absorbed his Kandrona rays. Free. For a few precious moments.

[My friends will know that something is different,] I seethed, already comprehending how weak that sounded. [You can't play my part that well, Yeerk. They will know that I have changed.]

[Do you actually _have_ friends?] he shot back. [And are you so sure anyone who _does_ notice a discrepancy won't attribute it to your injury?]

He had a point. I've always been a loner. Or, at least, I have since the accident. The memories of "friends" don't seem real. Like they're not mine.

Most of my memories seem that way.

[It won't be like this forever,] I warned him. [I will not be your little minion, the shell that you inhabit, forever.]

[True. I will receive a new host, and your form will be given to another.]

I hesitated. His words could not be true. They simply could not be true!

[Are you so sure, _slave_?]

[And how do you propose to escape? You're trapped, little slave. Forever. Until the day of your death, your body is property of the Yeerk empire.]

One meeting. That's what I had thought. Just one meeting.

One stupid meeting.

One life-changing meeting.

[Yes, it's addictive, isn't it?] he purred.

[You can't keep control of me!] I roared. [Escape is possible, you fool! Your empire is not invincible!]

[We are very close to it,] he said arrogantly.

[The Andalite bandits still fight,] I retorted. I'd learned of them rather quickly, mostly from Chazil's fantasies of capturing them.

[Do you see those stars out there?] he demanded, aiming my eyes toward the window. The stars glittered in the night. [That is where we came from. We have bridged the great distances between our planet and so many others. Why would you be able to stop us now? Earth is not the first, fool. We have planets crushed in our wake – why should Earth be any different? Did you see those Hork-Bajir at the pool? Their planet was conquered. And we will conquer yours, as well. Do you hear me, you insignificant human? There is no escape for you! And those Andalite bandits – their planet will fall, too. We'll save them for last. But they will fall, Phillip. Mark my words.]

And I did, unconsciously.

Not knowing that I would, some day far in the future, see his words come true.

He hesitated, then sneered. [Leera was lost because of incompetence,] he said angrily.

[Perhaps this "incompetence" will repeat itself on our planet. Wars very often have a point where the tables are turned.]

I knew something of history. In the World Wars, the war had appeared to be lost to the Axis. However, when the Allies were joined by the US, the Axis eventually fell.

One more country.

Maybe all this war needed was one more planet.

One more planet to push the Yeerks away.

He read my thoughts and laughed. [Don't compare _our_ empire to your pathetic world,] he snapped.

[You lost one battle in your everlasting war,] I shot back. [Perhaps you will lose another.]

[And perhaps not.]

The stars shimmered against their dark background. The Yeerk still had my eyes focused there.

The Yeerks had come from a planet orbiting some distant star. And maybe, from another, hope would come.

The Andalites.

Or another race.

Some race that I could not then see.

[Don't be a fool.] His mocking tone was not in the least dampened. He did not share those opinions.

I didn't even know if _I_ shared those opinions.

[If you're such a mighty empire, why do you not attack Earth openly?] I taunted.

[We could,] he said, anger creeping into his tone. [The Council members are fools. They should attack! We have the power!]

[Perhaps. But more likely, you could not.]

[If we lose this planet, do you know what we'll do?] he growled. [We will incinerate it from space. We will incinerate each and every living creature on it.]

[That remains to be seen.]

Despite myself, I still felt a shudder of revulsion at his words. They had the power. I knew that they did.

[Yes. We do. And as soon as we have conquered the Shazi by use of our new experiment, we will very likely do so. We will no longer need these humans.]

[Your experiment of high-powered Yeerks?]

[Of course. And then we will capture the Xaralites.]

[You hardly know anything of them,] I said flatly. [Why would they be important?]

[There are vast amounts of power exuding from that planet where they are. Held captive, I believe. There is a strange rumor of a war a few years ago. A captain trusted...some race, no one's sure which one...and because of it, she lost the war.]

[She? The captain was a female?]

[Yes. A young, inexperienced female. However, the same Hrisk and Yisudyts that claim this also claim that we Yeerks, the Andalites, and several other races were involved. Obviously a lie.] He laughed. [It would not have taken that many to conquer this race.]

[Yet you say that they have "vast amounts of power."]

[Not enough to defeat us.]

Xaralites. Where had I heard that word before?

The captain...why did I feel as though this story was familiar? As though I'd heard it before?

FLASH!

I pictured a Xaralite clearly in my mind. For just a fleeting moment.

Long, brown and gold hair. Brown, black, and gold fur. A cat that walked erect. Dangerous, I could see that.

Far more dangerous than a Hork-Bajir. Faster than an Andalite.

Green eyes. Emerald, a better word. A power – I couldn't see what – _xilinni_? Why did that word remain in my mind?

Why could I see this at all?

The image faded.

FLASH!

[What do you know of Xaralites?] the Yeerk demanded, searching my memory. [Your memories have no record of any contact with aliens besides the Yeerks. And then, only within the past two days.]

I did not answer. Mostly because I did not know.

But I had this strange feeling...of having met one...

The Yeerk ransacked my memories for any glimpse of another alien. But it found nothing.

[Hmmm. The Shazi do not appear to be as powerful as the Xaralites. From what we know of them, they are not as fast, not as intelligent –] He paused. [They may possibly be related, interbred, but while they also resemble Earth cats to an extent, they do not have any type of blades at all. They have had little or no role in history. Yet.]

_Is the captain still alive?_ I wondered silently.

[Why would you want to know that?] he snapped.

I had almost forgotten that my thoughts were not my own.

[She's probably dead,] he muttered. [The entire Xaralite race, they say, is incapacitated.]

I wondered why he had told me all of this. And this time, though he saw my thoughts, he did not comment.

**

* * *

Chapter Five – Cat

* * *

**

I was sincerely annoyed.

Mom had basically forced me to come to this stupid Sharing club meeting with Marcia. Her exact words had been, "Maybe if you start spending more time around your old friends, the aftereffects will wear off."

At which point I had informed her that I was not suffering from any amnesia aftereffect, I was suffering from a phobia of airheads.

She had smiled sweetly and said that it would wear off too if I spent more time around my old friends.

Parents.

And now, the meeting was over.

Marcia grabbed my arm. "I want to show you something in the back."

I shrugged her off. Mom could make me go, sure, but that didn't mean I _wanted_ to spend any time with Ms. Airhead. "I need to get back."

"No, Cat. You really don't."

"Yeah, I do." Her manner bothered me. Too commanding.

_I_ command. I give orders. I don't take them.

"Cat. Look around. I can show you things you never dreamed of. You can make a real _difference_, just by being a part of a real _movement_."

"Marcia, you're an airhead, I knew this, but now you're a clichéd airhead." I knew I was being more sarcastic than usual. But Ms. _Clichéd_ Airhead was driving me nuts.

"Look, Cat. I used to be a ditz, you know, but The Sharing...it changed my _life_. Changed _me_."

"You still seem like a ditz to me," I said harshly. I shook my head. "I'm getting out of here."

"No, Cat. You aren't."

Who did she think she was? Why did she have even a vague idea of being able to command me?

She was just a fellow teenager. Just someone my own age. Not anyone with even slight authority over me. Adults, I listen to. Teachers, I listen to. People who earn my respect, I listen to.

Teenagers?

No.

"Try and stop me, Marcia," I said as calmly as I could. My temper was flaring. I'd had it with her. I had really had it.

I brushed past her, heading for the door. She wanted to stop me? Ooh. I was scared.

Really.

"Cat, can't you at least give it a chance? It will change your life forever, I know it will. If you give it half a chance. But if you don't let it, you'll never even know what you're missing!"

"NO!" I yelled. I was really, really, really losing my temper. I gritted my teeth and turned towards the door again, wondering why I was losing it so badly.

She grabbed my arm. "Cat, will you just --"

I yanked it away and laughed harshly. "I'm out of here."

She pressed her hand on a small square on the wall I hadn't noticed before.

"Too bad. With or without your cooperation...well...like I said, it'll change your life forever."

She smiled. But not a normal smile. Not even a Marcia smile. Not even a ditz smile.

And then they came.

The beasts began to literally pour out of the wall! The panel had opened some type of doorway. And, apparently, they were after me.

I could have made it to the door. I knew that.

But...well...I have this thing about running away. This thing about how I'd rather DIE than run away. So, being either the brave person I am or the idiot I am, I held my ground.

Five seconds later I decided that I was an idiot.

I still held my ground.

"You're a fool, Cat. Do you really think you can fight Hork-Bajir? A _human_?!"

I dodged hard to the right. One went flying past.

You know, sometimes I think I'm really not okay upstairs. I mean, there's a door right behind me. I could run out in a second and this nightmare would be over. But do I run? OF COURSE NOT! THAT WOULD BE COWARDICE!

Hork-Bajir? Was that what they were called? If so, then the Hork-Bajir had figured out that I was easy prey.

One grabbed my arm. I tried to twist away. But oh, it was strong.

The alien yanked me down the stairs I could see behind the doorway. I did not say a single word. I had lost. I was a prisoner. I would not further humiliate myself.

Lost. Prisoner. I shook my head. Was I switching into full warrior mode?

Why did these creatures seem so familiar, anyway?

"Stop," Marcia ordered. The creature twisted me around to face her.

I kept my eyes calm. Unemotional. Whatever she was doing -- whatever she was -- I would not let her derive one ounce of satisfaction.

"Don't you want to know what's going to happen to you?" she taunted. "You can't escape. You're just an insignificant, ordinary human. Nothing special about you at all. And you are far too...weak...to escape your fate."

I struggled in the grip of the Hork-Bajir, then paused. I knew I could not win this fight. I knew how burning my eyes were -- I knew this, because she flinched and backed away a step. I smiled.

A scream floated up from the stairs. Now it was I who flinched. Would that be me?

Marcia regained her balance. "Five minutes from now," she hissed, "that's exactly what we'll do to _you_. Take her away," she said in a voice considerably less arrogant.

Five minutes.

They began to shove me down the stairs. Toward the screams.

I tossed my hair. They could take me down there. But they could never make me surrender.

_Right,_ I told myself. _They can beat you, but they can't make you surrender -- what's the difference? Both have the same outcome._

_The difference,_ a catlike voice said from inside, _is that those who surrender will never have hope._

**

* * *

Chapter Six – Phillip

* * *

**

The third day.

Freedom. For a few moments. Just a few moments before the filthy slug came back.

I stood still in my filthy cage, ears almost deafened to the screams around me. I leaned back, almost casually, determined not to allow the Yeerks to see what they had done to me.

I could see the Hork-Bajir yanking someone down the stairs. A new host.

But there was something different about this one.

She did not scream. She did not plead for mercy or cringe in fear. The only emotion I could see in her eyes was anger.

The Hork-Bajir -- I knew what they were called now -- tried to push her into a cage. The cage beside mine.

She twisted around to face them, placed both hands against the bars and locked her arms, straining to keep their strength from overpowering hers.

One whipped his blade to her throat. To their surprise -- and mine -- she smiled. "Do it, alien," she hissed. "Go ahead. Do it."

But, of course, she was no match for them. Within seconds she was reeling back.

CLANG!

I glanced over at her, surprised by her behavior. Again, there were none of the normal new-host emotions about her.

She crossed her arms, cocky. Unafraid.

I knew that in moments, as she saw what they did to the humans, she would be. But for the moment, I admired her.

The door was thrown open. I saw the Hork-Bajir reach for another host in my cage. They yanked him out, even as he screamed.

And as soon as the cage door opened, I leaped out.

"GRAAAAAAR!"

The Hork-Bajir let out a shriek. Instantly, his comrades were rushing for me.

A human bolted for me, raising his Dracon. But in his rush he collided with a Hork-Bajir.

In the Hork-Bajir's rush, he knocked him out.

The Dracon beam rolled away.

I grabbed it and thumbed it up to maximum. "Stay back," I warned. "I've had enough of you slugs."

They froze. I laughed. For all their bravado, many Yeerks are cowards.

However, not all Hork-Bajir were after me. Most went on about their duties. One yanked open the cage of the girl and pulled her out.

She would be infested. And I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

Especially not her.

Something about her. Memory. Was she the one I always almost glimpsed? Almost?

She seemed so familiar. As though I'd known her for a long, long time.

I lifted my Dracon beam and shot. My aim was off and I only singed its back, but it was enough. He loosened his grip on the girl's arm.

She didn't hesitate. Her fist connected with its eye.

It was shocked. "AAAARRRRRRHHHHH!!!"

"Get out of here?" I said to her.

"Absolutely."

Another group of Hork-Bajir had noticed us. While not many had bothered with me, two of us seemed to be enough to make them reconsider. But I still held the Dracon beam.

[WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, FOOLS?!??]

Her head snapped around. So did mine.

Visser Three.

"Well, well, well," I muttered. "I feel important."

"If I knew who/what it was, I might," she said impatiently.

[GET THEM!]

"Visser Three. Like a general or something."

She raised an eyebrow. "General?" She snorted. "General of a bunch of alien lunatics? A Hork-Bajir vs. whatever-that-thing-is, I'd put my money on the more bladed one."

"Not what the Yeerks seem to think." Noticing her inquiring expression, I explained. "Yeerks are the slugs that actually control the Hork-Bajir. And that thing is an Andalite-Controller."

"Ah." She looked surprised. But who wouldn't be? I was talking about slugs controlling aliens from outer space. Personally, I'd think that _I_ was nuts, if I hadn't lived through three days of it.

But I'd noticed something. The Hork-Bajir were moving in. I guessed that Visser Three would do something far more unpleasant to them if they didn't than we were capable of doing if they did.

"I suggest we run for it."

"RUN?!" she yelped. "Excuse me?!"

I sighed to myself. Definitely brave.

The Hork-Bajir leaped for me!

TSEEEWWW!

I missed! The creature knocked the beam away. It skittered across the ground as the other aliens grabbed my arms.

She grabbed it before the lead Hork-Bajir could. "You come near me and I'll fire this thing," she snapped. "I don't know what it can do, but I'm sure you do, so don't push me."

She turned the Dracon beam on the Hork-Bajir surrounding me.

TSEEEWWW!

One disappeared!

TSEEEWWW!

"Behind you!" I yelled.

She whirled around and barely fired it in time.

"Go!" I shouted. "Go now!"

"Now without you!" she hollered above the screams of the hosts and the bellows of the Hork-Bajir and the enraged voice of the Visser.

[IF THEY ESCAPE I'LL HAVE YOU ALL TORTURED!]

"Run!"

"I don't run," she shot back. She fired it again.

The Hork-Bajir knocked her back. The Dracon beam flew away – again.

She stumbled backwards, up the steps. They were forcing her backward – the door would have to be locked! She'd be trapped!

The Hork-Bajir hit me hard.

I slumped to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

I awoke to Chazil's taunting voice in my head. Apparently, even in my unconscious state, they had reinfested me.

Just as well. I detested the feeling of defeat I had experienced when forced into that pool. I felt as though if I tried a little harder – was just a little faster – I could escape.

Right.

[I see you lead the guards on quite a chase.] He laughed. [Were you so stupid, human, as to think you could get away with it?]

[Perhaps I was,] I answered coldly. We had come so close to escape. And now, here I was, a prisoner inside my own mind once again.

[Ah, yes. "So close to escape." No matter how close you came, _slave,_ you did not.]

I could not keep myself from asking the question. [What happened to the girl?]

[As I recall, she was more fortunate than you, slave.]

[She escaped?] I smiled to myself. Privately, I could not imagine her being conquered.

Of course, nothing is private to a Yeerk.

[Oh, if that one Hork-Bajir had been marginally more competent, she would have been. We'd have had her and she'd have been a host to another of my kind. Like you are, for example.]

[Doesn't it strike you as odd that a human girl could break through your defenses and escape?] I shot back.

[What strikes me as odd, slave] – was it me, or was he overusing that term? – [is that you seem to care so deeply for someone you've never seen before in your life.]

[I merely admire her bravery,] I said defensively. This was most definitely the last thing I needed.

[No, slave,] Chazil purred. [You care for her.]

[Care for her? Absurd.]

[Don't attempt to hide it from me. You imagine that you've met her before. You imagine this -- why? Do you blame all your mental defects on some case of amnesia?]

[I don't care for her. It is merely interesting.]

[Your pathetic attempts at self-deception are completely transparent to me.]

[Shut up, Chazil,] I snapped, losing my patience.

[Oh, I don't think I want to do that, slave.]

[You really think I'll be a cursed slave all my life?] I laughed. [I think not, Yeerk. Nothing in life is final.]

[You really think so, slave? Are you so blind that you fail to realize the position that you're in? Do you truly think that you can ever escape? You, a pathetic human? Your race was destined to be our slaves.]

[I don't believe in destiny. And your empire is not incorruptible. You can be beaten. As she has proven.]

[She has proven only that Asiral 541 was incompetent and a coward.]

[That is the Hork-Bajir who let her escape, I assume? What did the Visser do to him?]

[The same as he did to all involved. They'll die of Kandrona starvation. In a month or two.]

[A month? I thought the deadline was three days.]

He laughed mirthlessly, obviously shaken by his comrades' fate. [It is. They are being given less-than-minimum rays. Their bodies are slowly shutting down.]

[Does it bother you, Yeerk?] I taunted, happy to be taunting him, for once. After all, that may be you someday.]

[Only if I become incompetent. Which I never will.]

[There are other ways to fail the Visser. The Hork-Bajir after the girl were not incompetent. But they, as well -- if I understand your words correctly -- are suffering. Merely because of some oversight in speed or in skill.]

[I will never fail,] he seethed.

[Arrogance yet unrivaled,] I shot back.

[And you don't have any yourself, human? You, a pathetic human child, believing to outsmart our empire? Ridiculous!]

[Perhaps.]

There was nothing he could say to that, at least.

I sighed inwardly. Because he was right.

No matter how close to escape I had come...I had not.

[And you never will.]

I did my best to block out his evil voice.

But, after all, he was in my head, now.

Once again.

It would have been so much easier if I could convince myself that he was wrong, that I would _not_ forever be a slave. That I would escape.

But I am not a fool.

**

* * *

Chapter Seven – Cat

* * *

**

I lay on the soft carpet of grass and stared up, panting, at the sky. I'd never seen such a place. Or such creatures.

The stairways did not all come back to the school. That stairway had taken me to a sliding tree in the woods. And, for the first time in my life – or at least, the life that I truly _knew_ was real, not my projected memories – I had run.

I hated myself for it.

He had sacrificed his freedom for me.

I am not stupid. I could understand what "control" meant. All the more because, somewhere in my mind, the missing details were filled in.

Yeerks. Slugs, parasites that entered through the ear canal. They flattened themselves, sinking into the crevices of the host's brain. The host would have no power whatsoever to control himself.

I did not know out of what dark void these memories came, but they felt...real. Unlike the rest of my recollections.

I had this feeling, deep inside, that I had seen this creatures. That I had fought them. But I had no memory of it.

"Your stupid memories aren't real," I told myself angrily. "Those memories that you think you have aren't yours, can't you see that?!"

For some reason, the sound of my own voice comforted me. And that fact made me feel still weaker.

I had run. And nothing could ever change that fact.

Nothing.

I'd been shocked. I'd been weaponless. And the Hork-Bajir had practically forced me back up the stairs. If I had not managed to leap into a tree before they could emerge, I'd be dead – or worse – by that time.

But I had still run.

Who had he been? I did not even know his name!

But something about him seemed so familiar. Like I'd known him before.

I was quickly arriving at the conclusion that my "memories" were not at all real.

I closed my eyes in exhaustion.

FLASH!

_"NOOO!" a voice screamed._

Mine?

I could see, all around me, controls. And a creature beside me – what was it?

A catlike creature. Tense. Bent over controls as well.

We zipped through space. I saw the glittering stars around us.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE UNIVERSE, XILITE.

That voice! Not the one that had spoken before. Too powerful.

_Xilite?_ I wondered. What was that name? I'd heard it before.

"You cursed Ellimist!"

FOR THE GOOD OF THE MANY, CAPTAIN XILITE.

"You fool! Guard your back, Ellimist, because your time is growing short."

Another type of...spaceship? What was it? No! There were two of them! And beside them, a huge ship. A large, clear dome was on the top. Inside it I could see something like a forest. But different. Not like anything I'd ever seen before.

I saw hands reach out and grab the controls. The other creature jumped away. With a shock, I realized that I was one of them. That the spoken voice had been mine.

But not mine...?

"Take a shot at the Andalites," the same voice snapped. Our ship accelerated.

Not fast enough! They were moving into position to shoot! Even I, with my limited intelligence of war, could tell that. And I felt a great anxiety exuding from the creature whose form I seemed to have taken.

But I knew.

Inside myself, I knew. I knew that this creature...

Was me.

FLASH!

"NO!" I screamed. My eyes snapped open. I gasped for air, taking in the scenery around me.

The only sound in the still forest was my heavy breathing.

Xilite? Who was Xilite?

_Just a trick of the amnesia,_ I told myself shakily as I attempted to stand. My legs almost gave way.

I kept my balance. Barely.

It didn't matter, what I thought I'd seen in some hallucination. What mattered was that there were parasitic slugs taking over minds below the surface. What mattered was that there were decent, sentient creatures down there in cages.

What mattered was that I was going back.

I took a moment to calm my racing heart. Every part of me screamed that I could never, ever go down there again. But I had to.

If only to prove to myself that I could.

My thoughts drifted, once again, to the boy who had given so much for me. I could not imagine what it was like for him, now. He'd been recaptured.

I did not love him. I knew that. I did not love him merely because he had saved me, as cold as that sounds.

Still, something inside me...his eyes were so familiar. The expression in them –

I shrugged. Yes, he did seem as though I'd known him before. Vaguely. But many things were strange since I had amnesia. Like those wild pictures of catlike creatures that simply could not be real.

But then, I would have said that parasitic slugs could not be real.

_Would have._

But I'd had quite a bit of a first-hand look at them.

I knew that Marcia would come after me again. The same part of me that had filled in all the missing details about the Yeerks knew that they would not allow a victim to escape.

But I'd handle it.

I had escaped then, hadn't I?

Some part of me wondered how I could possibly be so arrogant. I had escaped – at the price of someone else's freedom.

I straightened, no longer feeling my legs go weak at the prospect of returning.

I closed my eyes, feeling the cool breeze –

FLASH!

_[I love this!] a voice exclaimed. A voice I recognized from the last wild flash of memory. [Love this love this love this love this!!!]_

[More than flying?]

That voice! I couldn't place it. But it felt as though I'd heard it recently.

For some reason, it reminded me of the one who had helped me escape.

[Yes!!]

[I prefer flying. But this is a close second.]

For the first time, I noticed that I was underwater. I could see the vast ocean depths laid in front of me, waiting for me.

I dived deeper, deeper, deeper!

I felt ecstasy rising in me. But not really mine.

The emotions of the creature that was commanding the body I was in.

Suddenly the owner of the other voice shot in front of me.

An orca!

With a shock, I realized that I was one as well.

How?

FLASH!

I panted for air, at the same time still feeling a certain joy left from my underwater thrill ride.

But who was he?

And why had I been an orca?

_Morphing._

The answer snapped into my mind like a lightning bolt.

Morphing! To change forms! To acquire DNA and then change into that form!

And if this flashback was real...was the other one?

I focused on the orca as hard as I could – reflecting only later that if I had morphed, it would have been fatal, since I was in the middle of a forest far from any water whatsoever.

Nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing.

I turned on my heel, frustrated, and began to walk back towards where I hoped the town was.

As I walked, I passed a large barn.

A hawk swooped in the air above. I shaded my eyes and watched it dive toward the ground.

A short, African-American girl stepped out. "Hey, Tobias!"

I figured that the hawk had to belong to her. A pet hawk. I'd never heard of them – not since the old falconry sport, anyway – but apparently pet hawks existed.

Like that was the highlight of my day.

She didn't see me, and I wasn't in the mood to talk, so I kept walking.

* * *

I passed through the suburbs.

I'd made it back to the town. Now all that remained was to reach my house.

"Mrrrrrrrrow."

I turned sharply, startled.

A cat stared up at me.

"Hey, kitty," I smiled. I reached down to stroke it and lifted it up into my arms.

The tabby cat was streaked with gold and black. A beautiful pattern.

I paused, remembering my flashback.

To morph. To acquire DNA.

Focus. Concentrate.

And so, I did.

I released the cat. She stared back at me with an intelligent gaze. I wondered if she knew what I had done.

"Thanks," I said quietly. I knelt down to stroke her again. "Thank you, cat."

She meowed again, then sprinted off.

"Kitty!"

A little girl called, looking anxious. The cat leaped into her arms. I could hear it purr even from my distance away.

I smiled. So the cat had a home. And a good one, I hoped.

I waved just a little bit. I don't think the girl saw it, but I'm almost sure that Kitty did.

She looked at me and smiled a cat smile.

Was the flashback real?

Because if it was, I could become that cat.

I would find out. For a moment I considered testing it out right then.

_No! Not here. Somewhere else. They can't know._

Something in my mind screamed that at me. I shrugged and began to walk towards my house again.

Until I figured out what was going on, I'd listen to that voice that seemed to remember everything.

And if I could morph, I wanted firepower.

"Hey!"

I paused and looked for the girl who had just called my name. I saw a blond girl staring at me with cool blue eyes. She jogged over.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?"

I laughed. I'd been wondering the same thing. "I wouldn't be able to answer that," I admitted. "Ever since I got amnesia – just a few weeks ago – I've had trouble with remembering people."

She nodded. "I'm Rachel." She held out her hand.

I shook it. "I'm Katharine. Call me Cat."

She grinned, flashing her white teeth. "Do you go to the public school around here?"

"Yes. You?"

"Same."

Behind her, down the street some, I caught a flash of a familiar face. This time one that I knew.

Marcia!

She had to be heading back from the Sharing meeting. Only it had ending quite a while ago.

Maybe she'd been looking for me.

I checked my watch. Mom would be worried sick. It wasn't completely dark yet – the Sharing meeting had been right after school – but it was definitely later than it was supposed to be when I got home.

She followed my gaze. "Oh, you know Marcia?"

I shrugged. "Vaguely."

Didn't know if she was one of them. Couldn't tell her about the Yeerks. Couldn't tell her what had happened.

"Oh." For some reason, she drew back slightly.

"See you at school tomorrow," I said in parting, before turning to continue on my way back to the house.

"Yeah."

I broke into a jog and reached it quickly.

Marcia met my eyes and smiled in a superior way. Smiled in warning.

_You don't have me yet,_ I told her silently.

I opened the door of my house and stepped inside.

* * *

I took a deep breath. "Have to do this," I reminded myself.

In reality, I was looking forward to it. It was a pretty cool flashback, diving in the ocean. And if I could do that...

I had this feeling that I should wear something skintight. My leotard. I'd taken gymnastics when I was younger. Or at least, I remembered taking them.

Which didn't necessarily mean that I had.

I felt that this morphing and this boy that I had met were the keys to my past. That and the flashbacks.

Both of them.

I concentrated on the cat. On her whiskers. On her short fur.

Concentrated hard.

Fwoosh!

I opened my eyes and saw the fur spread over my body.

"Yes!" I whispered.

I wasn't concentrating. The fur had paused, just barely covering my leotard. I pictured the cat in my mind and the process continued.

It covered the rest of my body quickly, including my face. I turned to see my mirror just in time to witness my hazel eyes turning green – something that seems to happen quite often, actually – and see the pupil narrowing, then expanding as it adjusted to the darkness of my room.

I fell to all fours just as my ears changed position. My bones reversed, claws sprouted from my now-paws, and my tail extended.

I shrank the remaining few inches.

_Hisssss!_

I tested my paws, slicing the air. The lightning fast speed made me smile a cat smile.

I jumped up and landed facing in the opposite direction. I arched my back, puffed my tail, and hissed loudly.

_Hisssss!_

I laughed and was surprised to hear it echo inside my mind. [HahahahaHA!]

"Cat?"

My mom! She'd heard me come in and now she was coming to check on me!

She'd heard my voice, too!

I demorphed rapidly. I reared up on my hind legs and felt my fur _shloooop_ in quickly. My bones straightened to the human form.

No time!

My claws shrank in to my hands. My teeth dulled from sharp points used to kill to grinding tools.

I dropped and rolled under the bed, still not fully morphed.

The last of my fur _shlooooped_ in. I put a hand to my face and felt it recede.

"Cat?" She knocked on the door, then pushed it open.

Done morphing.

I rolled out on the side opposite her, then leaped up on the bed when she turned the other way.

"Mom?" I said, pretending to set down a book.

Her head snapped around. She looked confused. "Cat? But you weren't..."

"Has Marcia called?"

"No." She brightened. "How was the meeting? Was it fantastic?"

I barely repressed a smirk. _If only you knew._

"I didn't really like it," I said carefully, not wanting to hurt her. "The Sharing just isn't for me."

To my surprise and relief, her face brightened still more. "That's good, I guess," she admitted. "You were out so late today! I didn't think it would take that long."

I smiled innocently.

"Did you get any supper?"

"No, not yet."

"I'll make you something. No, don't tell me, let me guess: lasagna?"

"Exactly."

"That's been your favorite food lately."

_Just say it, Mom,_ I sighed, seeing her hesitate. _Since the amnesia. I know. I've changed. If that was ever me._

"Thanks, Mom," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound strained. If that hadn't been me...was she my mom?

I smoothed my brown hair back as she left. For what felt like the hundredth time, I shrugged.

Nothing mattered.

Nothing except the fact that I could morph.

And that I was going back.

**

* * *

Chapter Eight – Cassie

* * *

**

"So the basis of algebra, really, is in fact linked to its –" The teacher interrupted the monologue – or was interrupted by the sound of the bell. The students practically dragged their desks out into the hall in the rush to escape.

I paused. I had to do extra credit in this class. I knew it.

Later.

I stood up and bumped my clipboard off my desk. "Stupid," I muttered, leaning over to pick it up.

Someone else beat me to it. The tall girl I hadn't noticed before handed it to me calmly.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Cassie, right?"

Alarm bells went off in my brain. Was she a Controller?

Marco's paranoia was definitely contagious. I swallowed hard as I responded. "Yeah. I didn't catch your name..."

"Cat."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause. Then she smiled. "You take care of the animals at the barn, right?"

"We call it the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center," I said, smiling myself. "Yeah. My dad and I do. Why?"

"I just noticed it yesterday," she replied. "You have a pet hawk, hmm? Toby – no, Tobias?"

Now alarm bells had changed to fire alarms going off in my head.

"Oh, yeah, him," I stammered, wondering what Tobias would think if he knew I was referring to him as my pet hawk. But saying "Oh, yeah, the bird nothlit!" wouldn't have been exactly bright either.

"He's magnificent," she commented.

I wondered what Rachel would think of that comment. But I just smiled weakly in return.

"What's your next class?" I said as we exited the classroom.

"Science."

"Ugh. It's mine, too. The one with Mr. Tidwell?"

I watched her face carefully. Would I get a response by dropping the name of a known Controller?

"No, I don't think it's him," she said, frowning. She shrugged. "Maybe. My memory's been kind of messed up lately."

"Why?" I asked, curious.

"Amnesia. Fell off a horse. Hit my head." She laughed. "No brain damage, not that I know of..."

I laughed, as well. She was rather likeable. Something in her eyes, though, bothered me. Something – the expression? – told me that I had met her before.

Her eyes glanced over the students in the hall and froze at one in particular. I followed her gaze.

"You know Phillip?" I asked.

Her expression was forcedly cheerful. "Not really," she said coolly.

I swallowed. I'd seen Phillip hanging out with Tom. I knew that he'd gone to a meeting. Tom had mentioned that he was bringing a friend named Phillip in Jake's hearing, and Jake had happened to mention it to me. So now I really, really wondered about Cat.

"Here's our class," I said abruptly. I forced a smile that matched hers. "Nice meeting you."

She nodded. "You as well."

I took my seat in the classroom, still wondering why Cat had spoken to me.

And how she knew my name.

And Tobias's.

My name, I could find a logical explanation for. We'd been in the same class. The teacher had called on me to see if I was paying attention. It made sense.

But Tobias?

And what had she been doing at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center?

**

* * *

Chapter Nine – Phillip

* * *

**

I slid into my seat. Or, more accurately, the Yeerk did.

[Science,] he muttered. [Only a twisted, backward, pathetic race would call this _science._]

I did not answer.

[What's the matter, slave? Unwilling to admit my analysis of your weak race was correct?]

[Shut up, Yeerk,] I snapped. [Go run back to your cesspool, back into your home in the sludge, die of Kandrona starvation, I don't care, just GET OUT OF MY HEAD!]

[As if I'd do a thing like that.] Chazil laughed in my head. [Do you really think I'd feel any sympathy for a mere slave? Your pathetic pleading will not influence me.]

Inside myself, I screamed. Screamed senseless threats and deranged pleas. But to him, directly, I said nothing.

Of course, he heard my thoughts.

[You know, if you hadn't _stupidly_ given more than your life for some girl you'd never met before, you might not be in this position right now. Then again, you might.]

My eyes – _his_ eyes – scanned the people in the classroom. I did not really know any of them. Maybe I had, once. But if so my amnesia had deleted them from my memory.

He paused and laughed suddenly. [Do you even recognize her?]

I gasped. She was there, a few aisles over, a determined look on her face and a thoughtful expression in her eyes.

[She escaped, Yeerk,] I said smugly. [You lost. Two human children, and _you lost._ The entire Yeerk empire _lost_!]

[Do you imagine that the Yeerk pool guards are the _entire Yeerk Empire_?]

I fell silent, embarrassed. Of course he was right. I overestimated myself.

He read my thoughts and laughed. [As do you always, slave. The girl will be taken sooner or later. We know who she is. Her family's already been taken, and it's only a matter of time..] He trailed off, leaving the rest to imagination.

[You failed before,] I said poisonously.

She turned slightly and met the Yeerk's eyes. She did not look surprised. Apparently she had already noticed me.

He sneered at her.

[We were dealing in wide quarters. Do you have any idea how simple it would be to have one parent simply take her to the pool area as she sleeps?] He was right, of course. It would be the easiest thing in the world for the Yeerks in the brains of her parents to turn her into the same kind of slave that I had become.

[And why haven't you done it already, Yeerk?] I taunted.

[Have you ever tried to get a good suggestion through a bureaucracy?]

It immediately occurred to me that the only reason Chazil wanted her infested was to get back at me. To silence me. To make me realize that there was no escape, no hope.

[Which is true, you know. There _is_ no way out for you. I don't know what you hope to gain by your futile efforts to fight me.]

[I don't surrender,] I said flatly. Inwardly, I wondered the same thing.

I knew he saw my doubts. I wondered if he agreed with them.

[Yes, I know you believe that, and while I'm sure that I could make you surrender, I find this game highly amusing.]

[Game?] I sneered. [You think my freedom is a game?]

[Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.]

I seethed, once again struck by the reality -- I was nothing more than a pawn to him. I was nothing more than a pawn in the greater chess game of reality, if that much.

[About time you figured it out, slave.]

* * *

The day passed as though it was a dream. Then, as the final bell rang, he spotted her.

He followed her, and, when we were both outside, laughed. [Watch this, human. See her terror as she realizes what I can do. I will end it _here._]

He headed deliberately over to her. I wondered what he would do.

"Hello," he said with a smirk.

"Hello, Yeerk," she said calmly. I saw anger in her eyes. The Yeerk only saw a challenge.

"We very nearly had you, you know. I believe there's a pool entrance somewhere in this vicinity, and as my human host is physically stronger than you are, I'm sure I can take you there rather speedily."

[What are you doing?!] I roared, shocked, angered. [You can't do this!]

[Can't I? I'd like to see you stop me.]

"You think I'm that easy to capture?" she said in a forcedly calm voice. I knew she had to be afraid. But she hid it well if she was. "You think that you, slug, can just drag me down to that cesspool to be infested by one of your fellow oyster-without-a-shell pool mates?"

"Yes. You are a young human female. My host could physically overpower you. I suggest that you not fight me: I'll get you to that pool anyway, and with yourself consigned to infestation, there's no point to struggling and making it harder on yourself. A pity my own host doesn't seem to grasp that, but then, all humans are rather limited in intelligence."

I saw her eyes spark. She shoved me back, away from her. "I'm not as helpless as you may think," she said defiantly.

I admired her courage. The Yeerk was outraged.

"I escaped," she continued coldly. "I escaped and your host obviously managed to outsmart the Hork-Bajir Controllers, so I wouldn't underestimate the humans too much."

I could almost hear the gears in his Yeerk brain turning.

How _did_ she know so much about Yeerks?

Hork-Bajir?

"You and the host were fortunate. However, you have no allies in this confrontation. There are only the two of us, and I'd assume the stronger of the two will be victorious. Just follow me, human, follow me, or I will _make you_."

"Right." She laughed. Not defiantly, not angrily. Just as though something was humorous.

The Yeerk, apparently, did not see the humor in the situation.

He had had enough of taunting. I felt my hand reaching out to seize her roughly by the arm. "I am in fact correct, human."

I was frozen. After all my doubts, he was going to win. After all her bravado – or courage – he was going to win.

**

* * *

Chapter Ten – Cat

* * *

**

The Yeerk grabbed my arm. I instinctively jerked away, spun on my heel to face him, and growled.

He still had my arm! I was shocked at his -- or at least the host's -- strength.

Strange to think of him as "the host." I remembered that Cassie had called him Phillip.

"Come on, human. Let's go. And don't squirm so much. We don't want any passersby wondering, now do we?"

Something inside me screamed at the thought of defeat. Something that I agreed with completely.

But what could I do? The Yeerk was right -- it had me cold.

We began walking back toward the school building.

I was in very big trouble.

"Let go of me," I snapped. I didn't feel quite as calm as I had. The Yeerk pool -- that horrible, slug-ridden lake of sludge --

"Now, why would I do that? What incentive could I possibly have for letting a human escape who already knows of the Yeerks?"

A feeling of revulsion came over me at the victorious tone of his voice.

I twisted away. His grip was so strong!

No way to escape!

"Let GO!"

"Human fool!" he snapped.

I brought my other arm around and punched him as hard as I could.

Pretty hard.

His grip loosened, and in that moment I broke free.

"No, you don't!" he shouted, lunging for me again.

Morph? Should I? No! He was a Yeerk, they could not find out!

"Yeah, I do," I said coolly, spinning with all the agility of the creature whose DNA swam inside me. He missed.

He lunged yet again. I backed up, but not fast enough. His fingers closed around my upper arm once more.

_NO!_

"Actually," the filthy Yeerk said calmly, "no, you don't."

He was dragging me towards the school's front doors. No way out!

"Did you really think you could get away from me, human? No one escapes the Yeerks for long. And now you've been recaptured by _me_, and _my_ host is the one who helped to effect your escape. The irony really is sweet."

I struggled as he yanked me through the doors. They slammed behind us, their familiar screech a diseased enemy.

"There is a Yeerk pool entrance in one of the classrooms. It will be as simple as anything. The teacher in that room is one of us, and will not question my bringing a human to the pool. There is a staircase there, leading down to the pool. And that, of course, is precisely where we're headed. Stop struggling, human, or people will begin to wonder."

"And that would break my heart," I said sarcastically.

"Wow, you've finally spoken. Wow, it's a major, shocking event. There's no reason to maintain your absurd, pretentious silence, human."

We entered the classroom. I noted that the teacher had left already.

I would not be captured without a fight.

"I have a name, Yeerk," I said calmly. "My name is Katharine. Remember it, you'll hear from me again."

I spun around with all my strength. He tried to stop me and was slammed into the wall along with my arm. I winced in pain.

"Take that!"

"You little-" He tackled me, trying to force me towards one of the walls. Once there, it wouldn't matter whether or not he had hold of my arm. He'd still be able to shove me in.

I whirled away, through the door. He groaned as he fell against the wall.

I slammed the door hard and turned to race down the hallway.

"You're not getting away!" he yelled, opening the door again and running down the hall after me – and he was faster than I was.

I threw myself into another classroom and looked anxiously for a way of escape. Couldn't morph, he'd be inside in a moment –

I glanced around desperately and my eyes lit up. A closet! Small, but I could definitely fit. I leaped inside and shut the door gently.

I stood inside, panting. I heard him throw the door open noisily.

"Where are you?!" he roared. Then, his voice lowering, "I saw you come in here."

I made an effort to slow my swiftly beating heart. I was sure he could hear it.

"I am now locking the door. You can't get out of the room, and I will, eventually, find you."

I was ashamed at my actions. Afraid! Me!

I wanted to challenge him, if only to prove that I could. I wanted to show that I was stronger than he was, at least mentally. But that would be suicidal.

"There's no point in it. I'll find you, and wherever it is you're hiding has got to be horribly cramped, and hot, and airless, and tight..."

I sneered. Did he think I was claustrophobic?

"You might as well come out," he repeated. "You can't stay in there forever without being found out, you know, so why make it harder on yourself?"

I shuddered but pushed the fear away. He was right. I had no chance in here.

Just as I was about to come out and at least attempt to use the element of surprise, I spotted it.

A fly!

I leaned over and clamped my hand over it quickly.

"Thank you," I whispered, almost senseless with relief as I acquired its DNA.

It buzzed out as soon as I was done. I grinned.

Time to get small.

"I heard you say something!" he hissed abruptly.

Time to get small _fast_. I could hear his footsteps.

"I know where you are now," he said, voice dropping to almost a whisper. He wanted to terrify me. But I was regaining my composure, my wits, and my courage.

Now that I had a way out, that is.

My skin hardened! I watched with fascination not completely free from disgust as the dark exoskeleton swept over me.

Suddenly, my face exploded outward into a coiled fly mouth, a proboscis. Disgusting, yes, but I could no longer say anything. Small comfort, since he already knew where I was hiding.

Besides, it was also rather interesting.

"You are in the cabinet in the right-hand side of the room," he announced. "You may as well come out."

_Show-off,_ I thought.

Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning – _he hadn't opened the door._

A blatant gesture of disrespect.

Of course, what had I done to merit respect? I'd run like a coward!

But I'd also escaped. I smiled as well as I could at the thought. I'd escaped, and he had lost, and this was becoming more obvious by the moment because I was almost fully fly.

Unfortunately, my eyes were still human. Mostly. They suddenly lacked eyelids.

I didn't really _like_ seeing myself turn into an insect, but I had to admit that it was better than the alternatives, so I watched. My arms, legs, and newly formed limbs sprouted dozens of sensitive hairs.

"You defy me?" he said silkily from outside. I could hear him coming towards the closet.

I was fully fly as I began to shrink. I rolled towards the very back of the closet as he opened the door.

Slowly.

"Yes, you've done well, _Katharine._ You may think you've beaten me. But now I have you trapped. You fight well for a human, I'll give you that much. But now who has won? You, or –"

He fell silent suddenly, not seeing me.

_Me, Yeerk_, I thought. _I've won._

I flew.

And I knew that soon, I _would_ go down there. 

Just not as a hostage.

**

* * *

Chapter Eleven – Jake

* * *

**

[Two Days Later]

[Here we go,] Marco said tersely. [Who's first?]

[Scared?] Rachel snapped.

[Yeah.]

[Coward,] she muttered as she stepped forward.

[Rachel, cut it out,] I warned.

[Shut up, Jake.]

I let it go. We were just seconds from entering the Yeerk pool. That had everyone on edge.

Including me.

[How are we going to do this without setting off an alarm?] Cassie wondered. Turning her big wolf eyes on me, she added, [That is the plan, right, Jake?]

[No way to do it without the alarm,] I said tersely. [We take our chances with the Hork-B's.]

[Why don't we just do it the _direct_ way?!] Rachel snapped. In an instant, she swung her big grizzly claws – _hard_ – into the trunk of the tree that sheltered the Yeerk pool entrance.

It toppled, revealing the stairway.

BrrrEEEEEEET! BrrrEEEEEEET! BrrrEEEEEEET!

[YOU IDIOT!] Marco roared.

[Marco, shut UP!] I yelled. [Just go! Everyone!]

[What did you think I should do?!] she snapped. [Tap it gently?!]

BrrrEEEEEEET! BrrrEEEEEEET! BrrrEEEEEEET!

[She has a point,] I admitted. [Now RUN!]

"Unauthorized life-form detected."

Laser bars suddenly appeared in front of us as well as behind us. I froze.

"Shut your eyes tightly to protect against retinal damage from the Gleet BioFilter."

[We're trapped!] Marco moaned.

Suddenly a Hork-Bajir rushed up in front of us and slammed a panel. "_Hruthin!_" he yelled in his big voice.

What was he doing? He'd let us out!

I leaped, knocked him down, and soared past. I heard other Hork-Bajir screaming at their fallen comrade as he staggered to his feet. And another voice, above the rest.

[YOU FOOL! You've let them in!] the visser screamed. [I'll have you tortured for this!]

I didn't pause, just continued to run. Had to find the room where they were doing testing. Had to. Had to...

Had to destroy the Yeerks.

[Jake! Where are they?!] Cassie cried.

[Yeah, Jake,] Marco said tersely. [Where --]

[I don't know!] I yelled. _I don't have all the answers!_ I wanted to add, tense and scared. But I didn't.

We shot past the hosts. Quite suddenly, I heard someone yell.

"Andalites!"

I turned to look. I saw a host from the cages, a guy about my age, staring straight at me.

Slowly, he pointed.

Pointed directly to a room that Hork-Bajir were already trying to guard.

"They're in there!" he hissed. Even with my superlative tiger hearing, I could barely discern his words. "The other room has a passageway! Hurry!"

[Thank you,] I said, not really knowing what to say.

It's hard, looking at someone just like you and knowing that they have no escape from an inevitable fate. Knowing that they have, quite possibly, just subjected themselves to torture by the visser. It's hard to just nod, smile, and thank them when they're dooming themselves.

No time for this.

I bolted into the room. [Marco! In here! Some passageway in this --]

[I see it!] Cassie shouted from just ahead of me. [There!]

Marco slammed his huge fist into the door. It crumpled at the weak spot.

[Marco? There's, like, a computer to enter?]

[You think I know how to break it?] he snapped.

The Hork-Bajir tried to rush in. Tried to block us from the tank of Yeerks. Tried to stop us from overturning it.

Tried to stop us from crushing their fellow slugs.

Tried to stop Marco from grabbing the Dracon beam.

And then, they tried no more.

* * *

We bolted out. Left the Hork-Bajir unconscious in the room.

[Get them!]

I heard the visser's voice in my head. We hadn't won yet, not by a long shot.

[Hork-Bajir fools!] he ranted. Now he was beginning to morph.

I didn't know what it was.

It didn't look friendly.

I pushed the tiger for every ounce of speed it had as the visser roared in fury. Morphing takes a while.

He wouldn't be done in time – I hoped.

"Visser!" a human-Controller yelled suddenly. "This human gave them the whereabouts of the test Yeerks!"

The visser swung his already massive head to face the Controller who had spoken. He was pointing at the guy who had given me the information.

[Then torture him!] he raged. Then, dropping his voice, he sneered. [No, no, no,] he laughed. [I'll take care of the matter.]

I hated that image. The image that maybe the guy was dead because we won.

[Free or dead,] Cassie told me softly.

She knew.

[Still,] I replied as we ran, again turning to see the host. [Still...]

[There's nothing we can do!] Marco roared.

We ran up one of the stairways, Marco firing at any Hork-Bajir that came near, the visser still screaming.

Now he was coming towards us. His morph was finished.

It was huge! A long, coiled rope, maybe six feet in diameter! It sizzled with electricity. I saw a Hork-Bajir drop, presumably dead, after it had touched one of the thick white tentacles that protruded from the visser's sides.

He hit Cassie hard.

[AAAAAAAAAAAAH!]

[Cassie!] I screamed. I raced towards the visser as he slapped her again with a tentacle.

He lifted her up to eye level.

[It's the low power setting, Andalite,] he sneered. [You won't die, don't worry. But you'll wake with one of our people in your head!]

I hit the visser, ignoring the pain that came from making contact with the electric tentacle. He jerked as I clawed him and dropped Cassie.

She limped away, still trying to run.

[We're in luck!] Tobias crowed. [This entrance opens into the mall!]

[THE MALL!??!!] Rachel yelped.

[No, Rachel, you cannot stop and shop!] I shouted. Maybe a little too harshly. [But this is perfect! He can't follow us –]

[And if he does?! Innocent –]

[Cassie, this isn't the time!] Marco yelled. [Just go!]

Tobias burst through first. Cassie was next, then Marco, and finally Rachel.

I whirled to face the Visser. [This opens into the human mall,] I said calmly. [If you follow us, Esplin 9466, your cover is blown. You cannot follow us now.]

He seethed with rage. [Don't tell me what I cannot do!]

I smiled a tiger smile and bolted after Rachel.

He screamed in rage. [HORK-BAJIR!]

The last one tried to follow us. But we were out.

The visser cursed. At least, I think it was a Yeerk or Andalite curse. I didn't understand the word.

Probably a good thing.

The last I saw as I disappeared was him killing everything in sight. Hork-Bajir dropped like hailstones.

We emerged into the Gap. People screamed. Loudly.

A few recognized us for what we were – or at least, the generally accepted knowledge of what we were: Andalites.

Hopefully they'd _never_ recognize us for what we were.

But most just raved about wild animals on the loose.

They yelled for the mall cops. They yelled at us (the ones who were farthest away, it might be noted).

The mall cops contacted the Gardens.

But by the time they got there, we were gone.

**

* * *

Chapter Twelve – Phillip

* * *

**

Chazil laughed cruelly in my head. [It would seem your efforts were inadequate, slave.]

[They escaped, Yeerk. They won. It seems that my efforts were adequate enough.]

[We almost had the wolf. They can't be lucky forever.]

[Perhaps not. But perhaps they do not thrive on luck.]

I felt his anger building. He wanted to make me lose my interminable lack of emotion. He wanted to make me explode.

[They take completely foolish, sentimental risks, slave. Sooner or later, one of them will be consigned to _your_ fate.. slave.]

[I think you've overused that term, Chazil.]

[It's the most accurate. What, you don't enjoy my company? It's pointless to attempt to decieve me, you know. You can not keep your mind closed from me. I know your every thought, your every emotion, your –]

[I know that. I know your powers, Chazil. I know your cursed powers. And I know your fate. No matter how many hosts you take, the _hosts_ are what make you what you are. YOU are nothing but a slug.]

[And YOU are nothing but a host. A slave. _My_ slave. Not _my_ slave for too terribly much longer, though...]

[So I'll finally be passed on?] I said coldly. _Any Yeerk is better than you,_ I added silently. But I might as well have spoken out loud.

[I wouldn't say that. Do you ever conjecture what it might be like to be, oh, say, Visser Three's host?]

[You two are very much alike,] I snorted.

[Why, thank you.] He laughed. [Perhaps you can soon more objectively judge similarity.]

I sneered silently. [What are your differences, Yeerk? Is there even a single one besides the fact that you have such an insignificant rank?]

[You'll be able to judge...when you _meet_.]

Despite myself, I felt a shiver of fear. Chazil saw it. His laugh resounded through my mind.

[Afraid, are you? Of course.. you have reason. Even with such an _insignificant_ rank, you fear _me_. You'll fear the owner of the best host in the entire Yeerk Empire still more, _slave_.]

[And your new host? A pathetic Gedd? It's all you deserve, after all.]

A pitiful attempt. I wanted him to think it did not bother me. But he knew.

Still, he took a moment to defend himself.

[It will be the Hork-Bajir body I've earned, human.] I felt the pride that radiated from the slug.

[Hork-Bajir? You?] I laughed derisively.

[Yes, actually,] he said icily.

There was a silence for a moment.

[I wonder what will happen to you?] he continued laconically. [Not that it's any of _my_ concern, after all, I've received a new host far better than a _human_.]

I shuddered involuntarily. My mind churned, thinking of all the tortures he had at his command...

[I see you've begun to speculate. Let me aid your imagination, human.]

I forced myself to remain silent, tried to close my mind. But it was impossible.

He'd barely gotten started when the visser's voice resounded through the pool. [Bring the human!]

Chazil walked calmly toward the pier and drained out. I heard his final words in my head.

[Have a nice time, Phillip.]

The Hork-Bajir grabbed me before I could even attempt to escape. I felt them slap a metallic rope over my hands as they dragged me toward the Visser.

_No cowardice,_ I warned myself. I could be afraid. But I would not let him know.

The Hork-Bajir surrounded me, forming a wall that would most certainly eliminate all chances of escape.

[You will kneel to me,] the visser said coldly.

I understood his plan in a moment. I would die here. I would most certainly die. But first, he would make sure that, in the last moments, I surrendered to him. I was nothing more than an example to the hosts in the cages.

I didn't like that.

And I did _not_ surrender.

"Kneel to a pathetic slug? I'd rather die," I spat. I remained standing, still working at the metallic rope with my hands.

[Oh, you will, Phillip,] he spat. [You helped the girl to escape. You gave the Andalites the information they needed. And you will die for it. After you have bowed to _me._ Kneel!]

"Never." I saw the fury building in his eyes. But I did not care. For what he had done -- to all of the hosts -- he would suffer, one day. By my hand, surely not -- but there would be others. The Andalite bandits still roamed. My life would not matter.

But my defiance might.

[Guards. If he will not do it by his own will, then _MAKE HIM_.]

I felt the Hork-Bajir force me down to my knees and, despite the situation, felt a momentary rush of pride. I'd seen others -- Yeerk and host alike -- cower before him. At least I would not surrender to him.

I had seen them fall and plead for mercy in the face of torture. I had seen this.

But I would never do so.

FWAPP!

Let me explain the basic Andalite tail blade: the inside of it is sharp and thin, but the other side is thicker and duller. The outside of the scythe was now pressed against my throat – virtually the only thing that kept me from falling on my face. Of course. He wanted to see fear in my eyes.

The nonexistent fear in my eyes.

[Foolish human! You DARE DEFY ME?!]

"Yes, Visser. I suppose I do."

My words caused a silence in the cages. I heard the hosts whispering. I saw the shock in his eyes -- the shock in his guards' eyes. And again, I felt that rush of pride.

However, his tail blade was twitching.

Not a good thing.

His next words were in the soft tone of one who is beyond all rage, all self-restraint.

[What good do you think it will do you? What do you think I'll do to you? Are you prepared for the torture I can employ? Where is your way out, Phillip? It's through my torture, to the death, or back in those cages, waiting. How do you imagine escaping from this?] He waved an arm encompassing the Yeerk pool, then leaned close. [From _me_?]

"Escape?" I said boldly, struggling to rise. But without my arms to balance with, it was almost impossible. "Escape isn't the point, Visser."

I made it to my feet. Slowly. I saw his face twist in rage. "The point is this: You will _never_ win this war. You cannot even intimidate a human youth -- much less win the war against my race."

[I CAN make you surrender, human!] he shrieked. [Do you guess what I can do to you?! Are you so blind, foolish child, that you imagine that when I have done with you, you will not say anything I want you to?!]

"The humans are stronger than you give them credit for," I said coolly.

[The humans will be _ours,_ Phillip.]

"You wish," I spat.

With one swift motion, he knocked me back. I fell heavily and rolled just in time to avoid his tail blade.

Suddenly a black blur hit the Visser. He stumbled back.

[WHAT IN A DARK SUN WAS THAT?!]

[That, Visser, was a panther,] a voice informed him calmly.

[It's an ANDALITE! GUARDS!]

The Hork-Bajir leapt for the self-named "panther." I attempted to roll away as they rushed over me, but to no avail.

I cast a frantic glance around. If I was going to escape, now would be the time to do it.

[What's the matter, Hork-Bajir? Can't catch an Earth cat?] the Andalite taunted.

[Perhaps these fools cannot,] the visser said silkily. [But I think I can.]

He knocked the panther back and placed his tail blade at its throat.

[Surrender, Andalite. If you surrender, I will kill you. But if I have to exert myself, I may infest you.]

[I don't surrender,] it snapped angrily. I could hear something bordering on humiliation in its silent voice.

[You will,] the visser said in his insinuating tone. [Oh, you will.]

**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen – Cat 

* * *

**

His tail blade pressed against my throat. I forced myself to be still, just for a moment, to calculate whether or not I had any possible ways out.

And still he continued.

[It would seem, Andalite, that I could easily kill you right now.]

I was not afraid. Or maybe I was, somewhere far, far in the back of my mind. But I faced him, eyes glittering.

I would not say anything until I struck.

[Come, Andalite. You know I have you. Or are you a fool? Where are the others, Andalite? Tell me, and I may only kill you.]

[I don't surrender, parasitic filth,] I snapped finally, swinging my huge paw.

It knocked his tail blade away.

[HahaHA!] I laughed as I danced away. [An Earth cat faster than a _mighty_ Andalite-Controller?]

Suddenly, his tail arched forward with superlative speed and grace. Which I didn't much appreciate at the time because he knocked me over. Inches from the Yeerk pool.

[Actually, no,] he said.

He pressed his tail blade to my throat and slowly forced my head down.

I quickly rolled. But that was not going to work because his tail blade was still at my throat.

So I did the one thing he wouldn't expect: I backflipped.

Straight into the Yeerk pool.

The sludge pressed in all around me. I couldn't breathe!

The Yeerks' squishy bodies connected with my head and my fur. I fought back the urge to bite down. I had bigger problems.

[GET HER!]

The huge centipedes were diving in now. I hoped that I was faster. Because if they caught me...

[I see you've caught the human. Had you not, I'd have had you executed.]

I had to get out of the pool, do some damage, do SOMETHING. I wasn't a helpless little human. I had the power to morph.

So I twisted around and did what my instinct told me to do.

I bit down on a Taxxon.

Instantly the others raced forward. But not at me!

I fought back the urge to throw up as they began to feed on the screaming, shrieking Taxxon as his blood billowed in the water.

I leaped! Up out of the sludge, my sleek body dripping a thick liquid that seemed to have been delivered directly from the sewer.

I shot a glance towards Visser Three. Just behind him I saw Phillip, fighting uselessly against the grip of two Hork-Bajir.

"Let me go, you filthy slugs!" he shouted.

I'd had it with these slugs. I had most certainly had it.

I ran, I leaped, and a Hork-Bajir bit the dust.

"_Hruthin_!" another roared.

Was he trying to say human? Or did _hruthin_ mean something else?

[Yeah, try and take me down,] I scoffed as another Hork-Bajir sliced at my sleek coat. I ducked and knocked him down.

[GET IT! GET IT! Do not let it escape!]

I dived at him and knocked him down. My clawed paw was at his Andalite throat.

[The tables are turned, Visser,] I sneered.

[Are you so sure?] He shot his tail forward at my throat. I managed to evade it, but it meant releasing him.

We circled, facing each other. I bared my teeth. He arched his blade.

[You can't win, Andalite. You are one. We are many. And, except for your morphing tricks, you are totally unarmed.]

[And except for your guards, so are you,] I shot back.

[The said guards are worth plenty. Enough to take you to that pool over there. To push your head beneath the sludge and allow one of us into your head. And once it is inside, it will assume total control of you. It will own your arms, your legs, your tail, your eyes, and your morphing power. You will not be able to keep the smallest thing a secret from it.]

I felt a shiver race through my body.

Some other mind took control. Pushed my now-trembling mind aside.

_Your battle is done,_ it informed me coldly. _I will take it from here._

**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen – Phillip

* * *

**

The Hork-Bajir were down. But they had, of course, managed to retie my hands.

I was helpless.

And I was not particularly happy about the fact.

Back into the sludge. Back to Chazil's taunts.

Back to all that and worse if I didn't escape now.

I looked around to see the Andalite in panther morph wreaking havoc around the pool area. It had seemed to be heading for me – but that was ridiculous.

I stumbled towards a dead Hork-Bajir and knelt down beside it, trying to saw off the rope around my wrists on its blade.

"Owwwwww.." I groaned as I scraped myself on the wrist blade. But the rope was almost cut through.

[The human!] the Visser roared even as he struck at the Andalite.

"I am so sick of this," I muttered. The rope wasn't even all the way off and I had five of the monsters running towards me.

_Not this time,_ I promised myself as I snapped what was left of the rope and spun to face them.

One of them laughed. I instantly recognized him.

Chazil!

"Hello, Phillip," he sneered. "I have my Hork-Bajir body, as I said I would. And I will be honored to have _your_ blood as the first on these blades."

[Don't kill him, fool!] the Visser screamed as he blocked a blow from the panther. [If you kill him and deprive me of the pleasure I'll have you tortured and then starved!]

I saw Chazil wince. So he was afraid of something.

He stepped forward, trying to intimidate me. "Of course, I don't need to _kill_ you. I'll take no uncertain pleasure in reinfesting you as well."

As he spoke, I saw the panther look up.

A mistake.

The Visser slammed her hard with the flat of his blade.

I dodged as Chazil slashed the spot where my arm had been not seconds before.

"Time to head for the pool, human."

[No, fool! Hold him for me!]

"Will he just stay out of this?!" I wondered under my breath.

[Aarrrrrgghhhh!]

The panther screamed as the Visser sliced its paw. And suddenly I made the connection.

I had heard that voice before.

The girl!

[Time to die, Andalite!] the visser crowed.

She could morph! That explained how she had escaped from Chazil at the school. But escaping from the Visser and escaping from a human-Controller are two very different things.

Chazil leveled his Dracon beam at me. "One move, human," he sneered. "Just one."

I shot a glance over at the scene of Visser Three and the girl. She feinted one way and then shot off in my direction, but the Visser was too fast. He snapped his tailblade at her and knocked her down.

Chazil spun and thumbed the Dracon to minimum. I swear I saw a grin light up his evil face as he fired.

TSEEEEEEEWWWW!

[AH!]

She rolled one way and it missed her by inches.

I moved quickly toward him, knowing this was my last best chance –

And seized the Dracon beam out of his Hork-Bajir claws.

Chazil whirled around and slashed my arm with his wrist blade. It hurt. He certainly knew how to use his blades.

But I had the Dracon beam.

The visser raised his tail blade, unaware of the scene on the other side of the pool, and prepared to gut the panther.

"Visser!" I snapped quickly.

He raised a stalk eye to see me and instantly exploded.

[You FOOLS! How did he get his hands on a weapon?!]

I smiled. I could hear the Hork-Bajir's heavy breathing. I could see the look of fear on their faces.

[I will kill you, human!] he continued, raging now at me. [I will make you beg for death!]

"I'm the one with the Dracon beam," I retorted. "Thanks to your witless guards."

I enjoyed contemplating what he'd plan for Chazil. I wondered if Chazil shared my anticipation.

"So what is it, Visser?" I asked, thumbing it back up to maximum. "Safe passage out -- or your death?"

[You will suffer for this, human.]

His voice lacked the energy that it had in its taunts. I smiled. He was stuck and he knew it.

The panther stood shakily. I could see that Chazil hadn't completely missed. Her left hind leg was missing.

[Thanks,] she said. I heard the spattering of blood oozing from the stump.

We backed away. I kept the Dracon beam pointed at the Visser.

But as we backed out of view, I heard Chazil's defiant voice.

"Next time," he called icily. "Next time, human. Next time, you are _mine._"

**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen – Cat

* * *

**

I left quickly enough after we were out. I had to demorph. And, for some reason, I didn't want him to know what I was.

I didn't really know why I had gone down there. Just to prove something to myself?

Or because I owed him?

Or because...because of that strange voice in my mind?

I shook the thoughts off and stared into the river. It was night. I could see moonlight reflecting in the water that rippled as I skimmed my hand over it.

It was a beautiful scene, with the stars twinkling and the moon flickering and silence, almost complete silence, except for the hooting of an owl and the occasional chirping of a cricket.

Why could I morph? Why did I have this power?

Why did I have memories that felt so far from mine?

I heard a twig snap behind me. I whirled quickly, startled.

The person behind me looked equally surprised.

"Phillip?"

"Katharine?"

Both of us were silent for a moment. I didn't know why he was there. I didn't know if he'd made the connection that I was the panther.

He soon made that clear.

"Thank you."

"For...?" I asked, testing him.

It did, however, occur to me that it was obvious that I knew he was not infested. After all, last time I'd seen him as a host I'd nearly gotten infested myself.

"You were the panther."

I hesitated, unsure. "You got us out. I was beaten."

"I would not have had a chance."

I shrugged. "Perhaps."

There was another silence. Finally he spoke again. "How did you know so much about the Yeerks? Such as the three-day rule, for example?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea. It's like...like my memories are not mine. Ever since I got amnesia – perhaps a week ago – my memories seem false. And then, after I was almost infested – the first time," I added with a small smile, "I...I don't know. It was strange, let's leave it at that."

He jerked. "Amnesia?"

"Yes. Fell off a horse. Hit my head."

"Impossible," he murmured. Then he looked up again. "The same thing happened to me. And again, the memories feel so false."

"Perhaps the Yeerks had something to do with it." I laughed quietly. "Easy to blame everything on them."

I looked up at the sky. A certain star caught my gaze.

A star in the constellation Orion.

I let my eyes linger there for a moment. Then I sighed.

Who was I?

If those memories were not ours...who were _we_?

I turned back to look at Phillip. Perhaps the memories did not belong to us. Perhaps we were not who we thought we were.

But I knew that in the back of my mind, I remembered him. Or someone very like him.

So maybe, one day, I would find out answers to the questions that I had.

I'd already found one answer.

* * *

As they suddenly met each other's eyes, they were unaware of the scream from somewhere out in space.

_I'll have you yet, Xairr,_ it hissed. _You cannot win._

The being's evil laughter filled the universe. But the two now-humans did not hear it.

The creature did not care. It merely continued laughing, all the while plotting the means to obtain the scene that it cherished in its twisted brain.


End file.
